The Promise Of Plague
by MyImaginationReeks
Summary: A Dark Angel makes a discovery on a long forgotten world that could stand to damage more than just its existence. My first upload. I hope you like it. Would love feed back.
1. Chapter 1 - The Little Girl of Lemano

**CHAPTER ONE: The Little Girl Of Lemano**

It started with a cough.  
"Are you okay?" Asked the little girl.  
"Get away from me." Replied the vile being as it sat against a tree coughing,  
spluttering and excreting what could only be described as some kind of bionic sap from its many wounds and distended pores.

"You look sick." Said the little girl.  
"Do you need some help?"  
"I said." He paused. "Get away from me or today might be your last!" His words were filled with a complex cruelty. He wanted the girl to leave because he knew it was bad for her to see him, but at the same time he was relishing in the higher emotions she was unknowingly displaying. Curiosity, concern and even fear. He was enjoying his conduct.

She looked at him with a confused gaze. She was  
only trying to help the creature. She had never seen anything like this foulness before. She didn't know to keep away.

"My name is Suri" She said.

"I don't care." Came the reply. Clearly she had interrupted him. He needed her to leave or his position could be compromised.

"Are you a gretchin?" She asked as she pulled a small leaf off a plant and began to play with it in her hand.  
"Mummy said all the gretchins and goblins were wiped out a long time ago. You look like the ones they show us in books in school but you look very sick Mr. Are you sure you don't need help? Let me help you if you need it."

He coughed and spluttered more phlegm. This time phlegm spewed out of his mouth like a bubbling volcano. It had solid chunks in it and even some blood. As it drizzled down his small, pimply chin the same fluid began to guzzle out of a gaping slit in his stomach. It bubbled and foamed from the two orifices in a soapy, sticky miasma of internal snot soup that made a weeping sound as air passed from this grotesque creatures lungs as it permeated through the openings. Emotionally though, it showed no signs of physical distress.  
The creature finished his coughing and spewing then showed the little girl a big bladed weapon. It looked like a knife but it had a lot more spikes and edges on it. Each one pointed in a way so that when it was pulled out of an enemy it would drag their innards outwards at the same time. The edges of the blade weren't like teeth though. Not even like the serrated edges of an eating knife but every little nook on that blade looked deadly and dirty, like it was death just too touch it with naked flesh.  
"Will today be your last?" He asked the little girl as he began to slowly carve the blade through the air.  
"For the last time, be off with you. Lest I gut you."  
He warned her.  
She didn't know what 'gutting' meant.  
She was only the tender age of six years old in  
Terran years. She didn't understand what being gutted was, but she was sure it was bad.  
"You're mean Mr." She said to the thing.  
"I was only trying to help." She continued.

He coughed up more phlegm and spittle as he tried to laugh off her kindness, waving the blade in a motion  
to send her on her way.  
"Leave girl." He said with a cough and a chuckle.  
She looked at him. She looked at it. Her eyes were sad because it had been so in-polite to her. She had looked past the unusual and the ugly features that the being harboured and extended the human hand of help. A tiny human hand but a human hand none the less. She didn't know it but this small excuse of existence had shown her a level of mercy very unusual for its species. Not only had it allowed her to live, he had allowed her to leave. Had his mission not been more critical he would of abducted the little girl and raised her through the ranks of a force that would be trained to decimate her own kind. Today, he didn't. She turned around and headed out of the woods  
where she had been playing. She knew there was no more to be said of this, the newest interaction of her short lived life.  
Suri was six years old. She had long, black hair and lived on the planet Lemano which was situated on the outer most eastern fringe of the Ultima Segmentum. Lemano was a lush planet. It fell within the golden  
band of its sun which meant its climate and atmosphere was not only hospitable, it was accommodating and welcoming for human life. The planet was lined with wonderful coasts, forests and mountain ranges.  
Its population were traditional people. They had seen the wonders of the Imperium up close as they originally hailed from Terra. That was ancient history though and since compliance the planet had been very much left to its own devices. Not bothering anyone and not being bothered by anyone. It paid its tithes on time to the  
Imperium and sometimes even a little extra. Lemano was a planet of little incident, especially xenos incident, according to the official Imperium manuscripts.  
The lack of action on Lemano meant that not much was known of the planet to much of the Imperium. It had all been documented well enough and submitted into the Imperial data base but the lack of Imperial attention the planet required meant that all that information went relatively unknown as it was very required to be called  
upon. This was soon to change.  
In recent times rumour's had been circulating around some small circles of the Imperium about a small rebellion taking place on Lemano which its army, made up of Imperial forces had been gallantly suppressing under their own strength for some time, much to the liking of the Imperial chain of command who were rather impressed with Lemano's ability to take care of its own business rather than call on help from the Imperium like so many other planets depended on. Maybe it was because they were situated so far? By the time help could get there the whole planet might of been over run. The military might of Lemano was one less worry for the Imperium.  
"Kudos to them." Thought all the commanders.  
The rebellion had started long before Suri's birth six years ago and for the last decade or so the Imperial army of Lemano had been having what it described as 'minor' troubles trying to suppress the forces of rebel cultists as it had always done so in the past. The cultist rebels had employed an migration plan which saw forces from off world make their way to Lemano to play war. Their methods were incognito and the Lemano army had yet to work out quite how the rebel cultists were making planet fall. This was an issue people such as Suri's father dealt with daily.

Suri's father was a soldier in the Imperial Army of Lemano. He spent his days vigorously attempting to fight off the most recent and long drawn cultist rebellion that had long since been ravaging the landscape of Lemano.  
The fighting had been steadily moving closer and closer to the civil centres of Lemano City. The capital of Lemano and the centre of human population on the planet. One city. The natural wonders of the land had largely been untouched by the people so as to preserve the planets natural beauty, but now this had backfired on them as they presented one large target for any attack on the planets infrastructure. The fighting was so close now Suri could hear it at night and only pray that her father was safe. So close that he could often sneak off the front line and visit his little girl, much to the annoyance of his superior officers.  
Suri exited the woodland and made her away across the yet unclaimed fields that lay on route to her sector in the cities capitol. She made sure to keep low as she waded through the over grown crops which had been untended since the capitol came under threat. Sometimes the cultists took reconnaissance of the city from these crop lands. Was this who she had encountered in the forest?  
"Why are they fighting us?" She thought as she ran through the over grown crops.

She could see the lights of battle on the horizon and said a silent prayer to the Emperor to let her father come home safely that night for one of his regular, un-scheduled visits.  
It was almost sunset. Dinner would be ready soon. Suri's mother had recently started to teach her little girl a few basic tricks about cooking and she wondered if her mother would allow her to help in the kitchen that night. She picked up the pace a little and before long she was in the safety of her people.  
"Mummy I met a goblin today." She yelled out as she entered through the auto door of her hab space.

"Goblins don't exist my angel." Said her mother without really paying much attention to her.

"But I did meet one today!" Insisted Suri.  
"It was mean to me." She said.  
"It showed me a big knife. I think he was going to cut me if I didn't leave him alone." She began to tell her mother.  
Suri's mother stopped what she was doing and suddenly devoted her whole attention to her daughter.  
"Where did you see it?" She asked.  
"In the woods." Said Suri. "I was playing." Her voice as serious and honest as a child's could get.

Suri's mother didn't say much in response to her daughters claim.  
"Don't play there anymore." She said, as she continued on her work of preparing the evenings meal.  
Suri could see her mother had a look of worry on her face.  
"You have classes after dinner tonight. Don't forget." She reminded Suri with a stern but soft tone.  
"I won't mumma." Said Suri. Her excitement now replaced with curiosity and anxiety.  
Suddenly the auto door of the hab slid open. It was Suri's father. He wasn't on duty so and was able to sneak away from his barracks to see his little girl.  
"Pappa!" She shouted as she ran to him. He knelt down and opened his arms to receive her, her hands painting a portrait of affection on his back as he hugged the prize he had been fighting so hard for in the trenches on the skirts of the civil capitol hub.  
His uniform was stained with mud, blood, oil and any other number of substances he had to drag his body through during his previous shift in the trenches. His long coat was soaked. It was thick and of a fabric that had the consistency of short hairs, like a stubbly beard being worn as a coat with rainbow oil slicks swirling between the tight, tough fibres as they mixed with the dirty water he had been fighting in.

"I got six today my angel." He said.

"Wow! Six!" She said with an innocent excitement about her.

"I managed to grab this off one of them for you."

He handed her a pendant. It opened up and had a space set out to hold a picture .  
It was golden in colour and shine. The cultist it was plundered from hadn't had a picture in the designated area, more likely than not he had taken it from a fallen Imperial guardsman and would later sell it  
amongst his cult brothers.  
She looked at it. She was pleased. She knew her father

loved her.  
She ran off to another room. When she returned she had a small photograph of the family of three.  
She put the photo into the space set in the pendant and her father secured it around her neck.  
"Now go get ready for dinner angel." He said to his little girl.

He patted her on the shoulder and she ran off to prepare for supper.


	2. Chapter 2 - Whispers of Astartes

**CHAPTER** **TWO:** **** _Whispers_ _Of_ _Astarte's._

The next day Suri and her mother went shopping  
in the markets on the outskirts of the civilian centre.  
Fresh fruit, meat and vegetables filled every stall. The Imperial Army of Lemano had done a fantastic job at keeping rebels at bay over the decades and as a result the people had learned how to maintain a study flow of goods even during times of discontent. Just outside the capitol the war waged, but inside life continued as normal. This was because the Imperial Army had managed to safeguard the fields ahead of the city. The ones that Suri had to venture through so that she could get to the forest to forage and play. Those same fields also housed solar panels and thus the city was always supplied with what it needed so long as the Imperial Army could the cultist rebel uprising out of the fields and hard pressed in the forests and beyond. Though over the years, that front line had steadily been inching closer towards the fields and the capitol and cultists were starting be seen in the capitol on occasion. Whether the commanders of the army knew this was a matter of debate that historians of Lemano would argue as to whether or not events could have been avoided. It was only a matter of time before push came to shove. But not this day.

Suri and her mother walked from stall to stall

examining the goods on offer. Sometimes they would stop at a stall and go into the back for refrigerated goods. Occasionally Suri's mother would ask her to wait outside whilst she went into a stall to look at some exotic goods that were for sale.  
Suri and her mother came across one such stall. A weapons stall.  
"Wait here." Instructed Suri's mother.  
"I want to buy your father a new knife for work."

Suri's mother entered the shop as she was left to wait patiently outside for her mother.  
She stood outside the shop wearing her favourite red and white dress. She was looking at the ground, drawing lines in the dust with her foot when she noticed a hooded figure sitting under a shade cloth. She looked at the man.  
He stood out and people were trying not to look at him. His size was substantially greater than that of the  
average citizen of Lemano.

Rumours from nosey citizens filled the market place.  
"Astarte's." They whispered. Suri heard them.  
The man , if he could be called that, sat with his knees up against his chest. His hands casually placed  
atop of them. A white hood covered his entire face.  
His shoulder was armoured. The armour was slightly visible under his heavy robe. It was green. Dark green with a white emblem on it that Suri couldn't make out.  
Was he trying to act inconspicuous? With his size so large to act as a deterrent for something? Or someone?

"Why is he here?" Said the whispers. Said the rumours. Then Suri heard one from an ex Imperial guardsmen as he walked past staring at the robed figure with another man that Suri could only assume was his old war pal.  
"Which legion is he?"  
Suri's mother exited the stall with her father's new blade.  
"Come Suri." She beckoned. Suri's eyes still transfixed on

the outcast. Did he know she was looking? Suri's mother saw that her daughters attention was drawn. She looked down at Suri and took her by the hand, leading her in the general direction of the Astarte's. She made sure Suri didn't walk too close to the mystery figure. It felt like it had taken them an eternity to go past him. In fact it had been only moments. Suri turned her head to look back at the superhuman. When she did the light caught just a little under his hood. She saw his green helmet, or a portion of it. Perhaps it was some kind of mask? She yelped and grabbed her mother's hand a little tighter as the Astarte's looked up a bit. She knew he had caught her looking at him and She knew that through his visor, he was looking back at her.  
The rest of the day was uneventful.  
Suri's father came home again but this time Suri wasn't as excited to see him, but still glad. Her mother presented him with the new blade to which he was very thankful for. They ate together as a family then Suri and her father went to their evening lessons.  
They had trained hard that night at their lessons. Both Suri and her father were fatigured. They came home and Suri's father went to put her to bed before returning back to his barracks before anyone would know he was gone.  
That night all she could think of was the hooded hooded Astarte's.  
"What was an Astarte's?" She thought to herself as she lay awake staring at the ceiling. Where the day before the little creature she had met in the forest filled her with fear, confusion and anxiety, the mystery figure she say today, the "Astartes" filled her imagination with wonder and awe.  
As she lay awake in bed she subconsciously fidgeted with the pendant around her neck that her father had given her the day prior. Wonders filled her little mind. That night her mother thought the same.  
"We saw an Astarte's today." She said to her husband as he packed his bag to return back to a life of war and bloodshed. He paused for a moment and continued packing.  
"Why is he here?" She asked.  
"Are we losing the war? Have the cultists finally broken through?" Her voice had a quiver of anxiety it in it but  
the answer to her question to her husband was only answered with silence. Finally he relented and sighed.  
"I don't know." He said.  
"Rumours have been kicking around command that maybe this  
is a bit more than just an uprising. We've been at a stalemate for years now."  
"But if the Astarte's are here..." She began to say.  
"Then the worst is yet to come." He finished for her as  
he returned back to packing his war gear.  
The following day Suri trekked off into the marketplace alone. She skipped along the cobblestone streets as rays of light created by dust particles beamed through and around the stalls. Her mother had given her a little  
money. A treat for her little girl.  
She stopped at a stall.  
"How much?" She asked the vendor.  
"Six." He replied.  
"Oh." She said as she counted the coins in her hand.  
Five. Not enough.  
A big green hand cast a shadow over Suri's shoulder.  
The hand itself was almost as big as her tiny frame.  
It placed a gold coin on the counter.  
"For you little one." Said a deep voice. It rumbled through the air and struck Suri to her core. She seized  
up in absolute terror as the words went through her. Terror and awe. Both fear and amazement at the same time.  
The vendor stuttered.  
"My my, my, my, lord. For, for you no, no charge."  
The huge man with the green hands in the white robe  
ignored the words of the vendor and returned to the  
position where he had sat the day before.  
"Thank you sir." Suri said to the giant as he settled  
back into his position.  
The hooded man nodded to her in an un vocalised acceptance of her thanks.  
Even sitting down the Astarte's was still taller than  
Suri. She wondered over to the base of his boots and  
looked up at him.  
"I'm Suri." She said. Introducing herself in the most mannered way she knew.  
"A pleasure to meet you little Suri." Said the deep, menacing voice. She was petrified and he could smell it  
on her. Despite her fear, here she was paying gratitude and etiquette to that she owed.  
"Pleased to meet you." She said to the hulking menace, as she held out her tiny hand in an ancient gesture of acquaintance. An old Terran gesture. A formality long forgotten to the bulk of Imperium but still a common tradition on Lemano. The Astarte's did not know how to  
accommodate this gesture. He put his hand out in the  
same notion. The contrast in size between both their hands  
was laughable. This wasn't going to work.  
Suri furrowed her brow for a moment then took the Astarte's gauntleted index finger in both her hands and began to shake it with a big grin on her face.  
"Pleased to meet you." She repeated with a big smile on her face, pleased that she had improvised a solution to this socially awkward occurrence.  
Before Suri could even finish her smile, an explosion  
rocked the market place. A tremendous roar of sound shook  
the earth beneath them as the concussive force reverberated  
through their vital organs.  
Smoke billowed from three stalls on the outer cusp of the  
market place. Thick, black and acrid. It was burning now.  
She wasn't injured. She stood up and dusted herself off.  
Where was her new friend? He had been standing... No he had been sitting right by her. How could someone so big have moved away so fast? She couldn't think of that now.  
The market place was an frenzy of activity. An uproar of  
people running to and fro with water hoses and extinguishers. Shovels, picks and most importantly, medical equipment. What could she do? She thought it best to go  
home. The significance of the explosion hadn't fully gripped her yet. The importance of the vanishing stranger had.  
"I shall consult pappa." She thought.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Games They Play

**CHAPTER** **THREE:** ** _The_** **_Games_** **_They_** **_Play._**

 __The next day Suri returned to where the

stranger she had met vanished at the time of

the explosion the previous day. She was

mystified and dazzled by him now. Intrigued. She

wanted to know everything about him.

The market place was solemn yet on high

alert. People weren't talking much yet. The

wounds from the previous day's dramas were

still raw on the population. The war had

finally hit home. People weren't speaking much

yet were speaking volumes at the same time.

They hushed in corners and conjured up

conspiracy theories. They murmured in groups and

plotted their predictions of the future of

Lemano.

"They'll take over." Said some as fear spread

amongst the capital city.

Imperial soldiers walked the streets with laz

rifles. Security was tight.

As she had predicted, the stranger in the white

robe and green armour had been where she had last seen

him the day before. She approached him. Cautiously. Every

time she saw him her anxiety eased a little.

"I didn't get your name yesterday." She said to the

stranger.

"Captain Ariel." He replied in his deep monotone voice.

"What are you the captain of?" She asked.

"The first legion Astarte's."... Now it was confirmed. The

Astarte's were on Lemano.

As the words left his mouth the eyes of the people drew

towards him. Some stopped what they were doing. He looked

up and the glare of the sun glinted over the red of his

visor. Everyone returned about their business.

"Well, Captain Ariel." Said Suri.

"You've looked kind of lonely sitting here the past few

days and I thought you might be sad from the explosion,

so I picked this for you." She thrust a 'rosectimer'

forward for him to take.

"Thank you child." He said as he tried to take the

native plant with his giant gauntleted hand.

The rosectimer rose had yellow petals and purple pollen.

It couldn't be found anywhere else in the Imperium other

than on Lemano where they were in abundance. Perfumes made

from oils extracted from the rosectimer plant were exported

across the Imperium.

Suri put her hands behind her back and her head down and

began to pace up and down in front of the huge feet of

the Astarte's.

"Wanna play Chi Sau?" She asked.

"I haven't the time for games today little one." Replied the Astarte's.  
"Sure ya do." Said Suri.  
"You've been sitting here for three days doing nothing. Come on one game?" She pleaded.

The Astarte's looked at her through his visor then

nodded in agreement.

Suri jumped atop his armoured knees and attempted to lift his arm. She groaned and grunted as she tried to heave the massive forearm of the Astarte's into position.  
"This is Chi-Sau?" He asked.

"No" She said, heaving. Finally the Astarte's lifted his

forearms for her.

"Put your arms like this." She said, holding out her own almost as if she was taking control of the steering mechanisms of a vehicle. The Astarte's did so.

Suri placed her right forearm on the inside of the Astarte's left and her left forearm on the outside of the Astarte's right.

"Now turn them over." She said, trying hopelessly to force the Astarte's to turn his arms over with hers in a barrel like motion.

Captain Ariel rolled his arms over as gently as he could. Too much force and he would send the little girl flying across the marketplace. They continued

to maneuver their arms top to bottom, bottom to top.

Suri asked him,

"Hey Mr. What happened to your face? Why is it like

that?"

"Like what?" Asked the Astarte's.

"The funny eyes and stuff." She said. "The pipes and hoses."

Captain Ariel understood at once what she meant and stopped

rolling with her for a moment. There was a hissing sound and some popping noises. He removed his helmet.

Suri looked upon his face. It was ragged. He had short, black hair that was reseeding a little at the front. Where it was starting to thin out a thick, metal bullet was lodged. Around it, a scar which then lead down the

side of his face, past his eye brow, down his check and finally past his lip. In a prior conflict, an Ork had shot him then tried to split his head open with a chain axe. The round hadn't made it through. The Ork had forfeited his life in his courageous attempt. The bullet had remained un removable.

Suri nodded in acceptance of the true face of Captain Ariel and returned her forearms to their previous position. They commenced rolling again.  
Ariel heard a faint sound. "Tink." He looked

around, his enhanced sensors on high alert. He looked


	4. Chapter 4 - Calling Home

**CHAPTER FOUR:** **** _Calling_ __ _Home._

They reached Suri's house. By now the noises that had been coming from beyond the forest were louder and Captain Ariel knew what was causing it. He ducked his head and went inside. Suri ran to her mother and flung her arms around her. "Suri." Called the girl's mother. Holding her tightly against her body.

She looked up from her embrace with the young one

and saw the Space Marine in her house barely able to stand at full height. "My lord!" she said, as she let

go of Suri and took to one knee, beckoning for Suri to the same. Captain Ariel removed his helmet.

"I need to contact my company." He said.

"My husband is in the Imperial Army." She replied. "He may have a coms device available. He'll be home soon." Captain Ariel nodded and took to the seated position

on the floor he had assumed in the market previously.

Suri's mother didn't know what to say nor what to do.

In the town she could ignore the Space Marine. She wasn't

interacting with him. Now though, he was in her house. She couldn't pretend he wasn't there anymore.

She hurried off to prepare things. She didn't know what

she was preparing she just didn't know what to say or do

formally in the presence of an Astarte's and so she

excused herself to tend to fabricated chores.

The captain put his helmet back on and listened to the static through his receivers. He couldn't get coms on his internal units receiver. He needed a stronger antenna. Finally, Suri's father walked in.

He stopped at the door. Frozen in awe at what sat in the corner before him. He dropped to one knee. Ariel

nodded his approval.

"We played Chi-Sau today" said Suri to her father. "He wants to come to our class."

Her father nodded.

"First I need to establish contact with my company." Said

Captain Ariel. "3rd Company of the 1st Legio Astarte's."

He said.

"Dark Angels" replied Suri's father. Suri looked up at him eager to know more. She could see that both her father

and the captain knew more than what they were telling anyone else in the house. He coughed. "Fetch our friend some wine." He said to Suri. She went off into another room as did her father, returning with an antique

looking communications device.

"It's old" he said. "But it should do."

Ariel turned the dial to his companies frequency. "Ariel to the 3rd. " He said. "Ariel to the 3rd." Suri's mother was coughing in the other room. There was coughing, loud coughing from the neighboring houses also. It wasn't subtle. The coughs were violent. "Captain Ariel." There was a response. A clear one at that. The antique had held up.

"This is Sergeant Lael of the 3rd Tactical Squad." Said the

voice.

"What is your status captain?"

"I have found the source of the rebellion." he said.

"Our enemy has been identified. I believe they are looking

to encircle this village. They want to use the cultists on the front line and attack us with a built up army of greater forces from the back."

"What kind of forces captain?" asked Lael.

"I'm not entirely sure. But we killed a plague bearer on the outskirts of the city earlier today and the population seems to be falling ill. Signs of the warp. I fear we

are facing the Nurgleite forces of Chaos". There was a

pause over the air ways.

"We?" asked Lael after a short pause.

"Yes we." Said Captain Ariel. "The 'little' angel and myself." He said, looking down at Suri. She was smiling again. Happy to now be playing a small part in the events unfolding. "Little Angel sir?" Asked Lael.

"I'll tell you when you get here." He said. "How long to

muster the company?"

"No sooner than a month Terran Standard I'm afraid captain." Replied Lael.

"That's too long. I fear their forces will be too great to effectively fight off in a week." Ariel paused for a moment. "Contact Chapter Master Azrael. Request back up from

no less than five Terminator squads from the 1st company" "My lord. Is this not, over kill?" asked Lael.

"If this is what I presume it to be then the cultists are rebelling because the forces of the Warp are active here."

"But Captain, one plague bearer…" Lael was abruptly cut

off by Captain Ariel.

"One plague bearer means more than one." He said. "We must prepare to finally crush this rebellion."


	5. Chapter 5 - Fight Club

**CHAPTER FIVE:** _Fight Club._

Suri's cough got worse. Phlegm and spittle discharged from nearly her every breathe. Both Ariel and the girl's parents were worried. "Come" Said Suri's father.

"I will take you to where we play the

Chi-Sau game." The Captain nodded followed his host.

"I beg your pardon sir." Said the Space Marine to Suri's father. "But I did not catch your name earlier." He said as they walked down

the streets now filled with the sounds of coughing and vomiting. Both men tried to ignore it.

"I am Lieutenant Galil." he said. "Imperial Guard." That

was all his said. Ariel could see the man's head

was filled with concerns for his daughter.

They approached the woods that Suri had lead the Space Marine through earlier. Galil stopped as

he came upon the captains handy work on the floor of the forest. The splatter was about two hours old now. Insects had started living in the biological rot of the recently deceased plague bearer. They spawned in its flesh. Galil held out a lighter. He was going to burn the

corpse to kill the diseases festering inside it.

"No" The captain stopped him. "You'll give away our position." Galil nodded in approval and the two continued walking.

"Chi Sau" said the captain. "It's not really a game is

it?"

"No" said Galil. "It's an ancient training technique." "Training?" Said Ariel. "As in, combat?"

"Yes." Replied Galil.

"I have never seen such methods before." Said the Space

Marine. Galil turned to him with a grin.

"Perhaps this time the Astarte's can learn a trick or two from the Imperial Army?" The captain shrugged at Galil's comment. "Perhaps."

It didn't take much longer for them to reach the

fields. Galil lead him to a specific solar energy receiving tower and brushed aside some grass.

There was a trap door. "It's going to be tight" said

Galil. Ariel was not impressed. He

had almost forgotten their size differences.

Galil opened the hatch and slid down with ease. Captain Ariel tried to follow. It was a tight fit.

Too tight a fit but through a bit of effort he got down. A dim light filled the underground cavern. It was candle lit. Whilst above them they had enough energy to power

a war they were unable to draw from the source. To tap

from it would certainly draw suspicion from both enemies and allies alike.

Men were fighting. Their upper bodies were naked as their fists and feet made contact to one another. "Hmphs" and groans filled the air.

Ariel turned to look at Galil. He was removing the upper portion of his clothing.

"What manner of martial combat is this?" asked Ariel.

"You will learn" said Galil as he beckoned for

the captain to remove his robe. The captain obliged him. Revealing his scarred and mutilated torso. The history of

a life of battle written thickly across it.

When he was ready Galil whistled and everyone stopped what they were doing to looks at him. They saw the captain and all fell to one knee.

Captain Ariel nodded in approval of the men. They stood

up and continued fighting. The Astarte's observed with intent and inquisition.

"Where did you learn such techniques?" he asked Galil.

"Our planet was populated from one of the earliest fleets to leave Terra during the heresy." Said Galil.

"Upon settling here, many, many generations passed and our Terran heritage was long forgotten. One day one of our archeological crew unearthed a massive star ship. To us

it looked futuristic but upon our first re-encounters with the Imperium we soon learned that it was in fact,

ancient. Within the fallen craft was a data server.

A network that spanned the whole ship which was large enough to host an entire continental population. There was much archival footage on the server. Lots of it. Visual data of the science of human un-armed combat." Ariel looked at Galil with intrigue. "Go on" he

said as he turned and watched the fighters in the cavern kick and punch each other with perfect precision.

"In the time before technology on Terra, the population

created these methods of fighting to address different kinds of threats. The Ving Tzun system, the one in which we practice the Chi Sau technique was used as a gritty alley way fighting style. A fast hand form of fighting that relies on triangles, pyramids and lines. Watch."

Galil called over a combatant and they set their hands in the position that Suri had taken up with Ariel back in the market place a few days earlier. The two men's arms began the same barrel like rolling motion. Suddenly

there was a thud. Galil had struck the man in the sternum. He wretched back in pain.

The Space Marine noticed something about the two men.

Galil was quite a small individual. The man he was

sparring with was at least double his size and weight and yet the Lieutenant had no trouble dominating the match. "Interesting concept." Said the Captain Ariel.

"You see how I am always straight to him? See my line of fire? Like a bolt round aimed true. We channel much more force into every hit."

"Sorcery!" Claimed Ariel.

"No no." Explained Galil. "Watch, if I may?"

He approached the Space Marine. The Space Marine kneeled down so as to be at roughly the same height to Galil.

They began to roll their arms like he had done with Suri.

Again, the Space Marine took great care. Without warning he felt a sharp thud at the centre of his chest. "That

didn't hurt?" He said to Galil, but when he looked down, he could see a red mark in the shape of Galil's knuckles on his chest.

He knew that man against man a blow such as that would do great amounts of damage.

"There are other systems to. Many." Said Galil.

"Each employs a different form of science. Hap-Ki-Dow, from the Terran nation of Ko-Rea-Us employs methods based on circular movements whilst Ju-Dar is based in balance and

Ju-Sit-Zu has it's science based in leverage."

Ariel was now more engaged than ever.

"There's even the one called 'Muay-Tha-Eye', which in the data system is sometimes referred to as 'the science of eight limbs'."

"Science of eight limbs?" Queried Ariel.

"When would a man had to have fought beasts with more than four limbs?"

"I'm not sure." Said Galil. His body was now dripping with sweat. The fringe of his brown hair caked to his forehead. "But they mean it as hands, knees, elbows and feet. We practice all these ancient techniques. We have

a copy of one book called 'The Bubishi' from the old

Terran nation of Ja-Pan. It teaches us about death blows and how the digestive cycle of a person can be interrupted by forceful touches to specific body parts."

"A death touch?" Now it really sounds like sorcery.

"On the contrary. The techniques used to destroy life help

us better understand how to preserve it. For example, the seven instant death spots are the forbidden spots.

Different techniques for different scenarios." He said "The Ju-Sit-Zu system was used as a chokes and holds method for ancient warriors called Sam-Urati. If they lost their weapons they were defenseless against enemy Sam- Urati." He continued

"They invented different methods of chokes to act outside of that armour. The Tae-Kwon-Dosus system focused on high kicks because ancient raiders rode in on tall beasts the ancients called Hor-sarses. The enemy had to be thrown from these beasts, a bit like taking out a gunner on a mobile platform today but in medieval standards."

Ariel looked around. The men fighting had a system all right, except every man's was unique. Individual to his own body shape and needs.

"Has this helped you at all?" He asked Captain Ariel.

"Yes, most definitely." Replied Galil.

"Why do you think our war with the cultists has been at a stalemate for so long? We are fighting a trench war. This training helps us win in those close quarters conflicts. All of our styles are personalized so that

the cultists can't learn our techniques."

"Didn't they have access to this information prior to the

uprising at the same time you did?" Asked Ariel.

"They did." Galil responded. "But the cultists fight

with brute strength. For some reason they have forgotten

these ancient techniques and …" He was cut off. "Engaged the power of the warp." Finished Ariel. "I fear so." Said Galil. He coughed.

"They follow the Chaos god Nurgle. At least that's what

I personally believe."

"That is what I personally know." Said Ariel. A stain of rasp in his voice.

"I took this from a dying cultist today."

Galil reached into the pocket of his combat fatigues and produced a medallion.

"The mark of Nurgle" said Ariel.

"Yes, I fear so." Said Lieutenant Galil. His voice softened with an emotion of lost hope.

"They rebel because the taint of Chaos is near." "But this war has lasted generations." said Galil.

"Yes, but they want it to end. Did you not notice the

growing pestilence in the atmosphere? The coughing, vomiting sounds we all heard. They are infecting the population." "Suri" said Galil.

"Yes. Suri" said the captain.

"What can we do? What defenses do we have?" asked

Galil. There was desperation in his voice. Ariel the vocal tone. It was fear. Galil was afraid.

"Nothing for now" He replied. "Until my company can arrive with back up there is nothing we can do. History tells us they will far outnumber the Imperial forces."

"We wait then?" Asked Galil impatiently.

"Precisely" Ariel responded. "Until then. Teach me your arts."


	6. Chapter 6 - A Waiting Game

**CHAPTER SIX:** _A Waiting Game._

One month. In one month the Dark Angels would do battle against the forces of Chaos to put down a Nurgle rebellion. One month. Ariel examined his

options. With the Imperial Army still fighting on the front line outside the markets he had to strengthen his rear defenses.

The coughs, vomits and sounds of disease grew louder every night. The Nurgle army was strengthening. Beyond the woods he could hear them. The sick grew ever more and Ariel had to remain in hiding. If the enemy knew there were Space Marines around they would attack now before back up could arrive. Imperial Army numbers were

dwindling due to the plague the Nurgle plague bearers brought with them where ever they went, this was going

to be a miraculous battle. 'Miraculous.' He didn't believe in the word. Nothing was a miracle. Miracles were small chains of events set in motion prior to a greater outcome. Suri grew weaker.

He spent the days surveying from the outlying forests. It had become routine. He would have to remain incognito at all times, hiding amongst the vegetation. He based himself in the underground cavern where Galil was training him. Every now and again he would enter the forest and find plague bearers scouting. He had to take caution. If he killed to many it would let the commander of the Chaos forces know that the Imperial Army were attempting to fortify their rear lines. At the same time

they were plague bearers. The more he could kill, the less the pestilence would take hold. If they got too close,

he would destroy them. Always in the same method to throw the ones who came looking for the dead off the scent of any suspicious activities. His method was ugly. He would creep up behind them and snap them. Always in the same place, centre spine. He would drag the tooth of forest carnivores across where he had snapped and stab into the area so as to make it look as though the plague bearer

had fallen prey to a mysterious forest beast. He wondered if this is what Caliban was like. If the great Lion

had utilized similar techniques. After this he would return to the archives in the rock and attempt to find out.

Before long, the corpses of the sick dead started to pile up. They were mounded in piles on the outskirts of

the forest. Just before the vegetation of the fields. There

was no room, nor time to bury them. They were stacked openly and burned in a hope that the smell, smoke and

ashes of rotting flesh would trick the forces of Chaos into

miss believing they had dealt a heavy biological blow. Even though realistically they had.

"Your fighters are sick. Your population is dying."

Said Ariel to Galil. "I fear my battle brothers may appear too late."

"We need a strategy." Said Galil in contemplation.

"Our commanders are lazy. We hold the line for now, but our reserves drop every day as the plague grows stronger. Our commanders don't see this."

"Yes." Agreed Ariel. "The cultists are the beginning.

They have scouted the area and have plague bearers forming outside the villages. When the time is right they will ravage the sick village, cut down the market place and

attack your trenches from behind."

"We must get word to my superiors!" Gasped Galil.

"They are stubborn." Ariel said in thought.

"Go to them. I will attempt to extract further information from my battle brothers in regards to their arrival and

as to whether or not they bring the support I have

requested."

Galil nodded in agreement at Ariel's proposal.

"Make haste my friend." And with that, Galil headed off into the dark of the night.

There was more coughing. Closer than the coughing

coming from outside the house. Suri stood in the door way. "Will we be ok?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes and struggled to speak the words with every agonizing breathe. "I…" Ariel stood up to walk over to her. "Thunk", he

hit his head on a support beam. Suri chuckled. She wanted to laugh more at the Space Marine's misfortune but the coughing once more over came her and a brief moment of

joy was lost to the pains in her lungs.

He knelt down to her height. Still too tall. He lowered his head. Still too tall. He looked down at her and

picked her up from under her arms. He'd never held

a child before. "Rest little angel." He said and took her too her room. She coughed over his green

shoulder armour as he carried her in and lay her to rest. He put her down and knelt by her side looking down at

her. He was a Space Marine. He had never known fear. It was not bred into him. Fear would delay him from killing his enemy. He had no fear… For his enemies. Suri was not his enemy. For the first time Captain Ariel felt

fear. Genuine fear. "I'm afraid." Said Suri.

"So am I." He replied. He could never admit such silly notions to anyone else. Especially not his battle brothers. He watched Suri cough in pain and agony. Phlegm

swam in her throat. Sweat beaded down her brow and her

eyes, when she had the strength to open them, turned red. As red as blood because they were filled with blood.

Ariel stayed beside her questioning this new emotion

that for centuries had been foreign to him.

Suri's mother stood in the door way watching him watch over Suri.

"It won't be long now" she said.

Ariel turned around. He had been so overwhelmed with his thoughts he hadn't noticed she was there. His brothers in arms would punish him severely for such a lapse in alertness.

"What won't be long?" he said. His deep voice flooding

through Suri's mother.

"What do you think?" she said. "She is only six years old. She is frail. She can't survive this."

"Then we must survive it for her." Said Ariel, thankful that Suri was no longer conscious to hear the conversation taking place. Suri's mother stepped over and they both looked down at the little one. In his thoughts the Space Marine was questioning his new emotions. Examining them

logically until in his head it finally began to make sense. He was not afraid of the enemy.

He was afraid of losing his little friend to them.

This, he reasoned, would be all the more reason for him to fight harder and to make sure success and victory was theirs! He now had a purpose to fight that was more important than the inter planetary strategies of the Imperium.

"Why are you really here?" Asked Suri's mother.

"Why would your legion send one lone Astarte's for a civil rebellion?" Captain Ariel was reluctant to answer. The night had revealed many inner stirrings to him. Revelations that exposed a weakness he never knew he had. A very human weakness.

He stood up.

"We had reports about the cultist uprising. We thought it

nothing more than a rebellion. Often after planets enter

under the Emperor's guidance and join the Imperium of man, some of those men fear that allegiance. They rebel. In time many of those rebellions burn themselves out. On the grander scale of things, these rebellions are not of our business."

"So what makes this one different?" she said. The coughs in the back ground breaking the pauses of silence between his answers. Suri's own coughs adding to the symphony

of disease.

"We observed irregular warp patterns from this sector." He revealed. "That is all I can tell you."

"Warp patterns?" this made no sense to her. She began to well up. "I sense something bad is coming." She confessed. "Yes." Confirmed Captain Ariel. "The end battle is

drawing closer. I fear your people may not survive." "May not survive?" She said angrily. Tears choked her throat. "The Imperium is willing to watch us become extinct?"

"If it means denying the forces of Chaos a foothold in the galaxy from which they can launch greater attacks on more prevalent populations then yes."

"Expendable?" she said. "That's all we are to you?" "Sometimes it is better for a few to die to save the lives of many." He said. She was crying heavily now

but not loudly. Still mindful of her sick daughter who lay in bed barely breathing.

"I will do my best." He said and left the room.


	7. Chapter 7 - The Faults Of Superiority

**CHAPTER SEVEN:** _The Faults Of Superiority._

"General." Galil stood to attention in the presence

of his highest superior. "I have, a theory."

The General was busy looking over maps in his war tent right on the fringe of the market place. Until recently

it had been a safe zone but the cultist bombardments had been moving closer and closer and from time to time the they would over shoot the trenches and back lines of

the Imperial Armies strong hold, blowing up a shop or two in the process.

He looked up from his maps with little figurines on them outlining positions relevant to the campaign.

"How dare you interrupt me!" said the General. His voice

was filled with unwarranted authority. A fake status earned through the corridors of bureaucracy and political arse kissing. Not the field of combat. His long coat hung

heavy over his upright body. His ceremonial hat perched perfectly atop his head. His many, many medals dull and un attended. As if no effort was needed to earn such accolades.

Galil looked at the medals pinned on the Generals chest. "Bastard" he thought. Yes, they were colourful. Each signified a battle "won" via the tactics of the General. "Won". Galil wouldn't call them victories. He had lost a lot of good men at the incompetent decisions made by this bastard General but in the halls of bureaucracy any small victory was validated by a medal. Just so the person giving the damned thing out could themselves further their own ranks amongst the pompous farts seated in charge of

the lives of those who serve courageously in the name of the Emperor. Galil clenched a fist by his side as he stood to attention to address the General bastard.

"Our scouts" he started.

"Scouts?" Interrupted the General. Sniggering and laughing under his breath as he turned to his colleagues next to him in a pathetic effort to belittle Galil in front

of them. As if Galil all ready didn't know what

he was talking about. He paused. The General looking on.

"Yes General. Our scouts", he continued.

"Our scouts encountered enemy forces taking recognisance in the forests outside of our power fields and crop supplies. They weren't of the cultist army." He said.

"Well then." Replied the General with a conniving tone.

"How can we be certain they are enemies?"

"Sir." Galil paused. "I dare say, they are not human." "Not of this world soldier? That notion is preposterous." "I believe they are partly responsible for the plague infecting our civilians. Furthermore I believe they are conjuring a force outside of the village so as to

attack us from the rear."

"Enough!" said the General. Slamming his palm down

onto a wooden table. The table doing more damage to the

General than the General to the table.

"You barge in here making such accusations. I know where our enemies lie. We have very good intelligence to tell us that the village, all the villages beyond the crop lands are safe from enemy forces."

Galil couldn't look at his superior. He stood with his eyes

forward. "Sir, if I may." He responded.

He beckoned for two Imperial Soldiers to enter the tent. They dragged with them the top half of a plague bearer of the Chaos God Nurgle recently slain in the forests by

Ariel.

"This is not of humanity." Said Galil.

The General looked upon the rotting corpse. It's jaw was locked open. Maggots were eating the tender flesh of its tongue. Boils and blisters oozed from the skin of the being. Its innards hung by stringy tendons to its mantle.

The stench was vile. The General dry reached.

"I should have you court marshalled. Bringing in a decaying

corpse and passing it off as some inhuman enemy."

Galil held out the hand of the plague bearer. Tightly gripped with in its fist was a blade. Not a particularly superior blade by any make. It harboured no magic powers. It was not divine. In fact it was a crude make. The blade resembled more a shaped and pointed rock than a blade. "This weapon is not cultist." Said Galil.

The General examined the weapon.

"Leave it with me." He said "But get this rot out of here!" Galil nodded and stood at attention. He saluted, then left the tent. The two accompanying Imperial Soliders did the same and took the carcass out with them.


	8. Chapter 8 - My Brothers Keeper

**CHAPTER EIGHT:** _My Brother's Keeper._

Galil returned home late that night. He slowly opened the creaking door and entered the darkened home. There was the hum of a insects outside. He heard

it but thought nothing of it. He hung up the cloak of his uniform and began to untie the laces on his right boot when the moon, glistening through the window

caught the visor of Ariel who was sitting silently, as always his back against a wall. Galil looked at him. "How is Suri?" he asked.

"Not good." Said the Space Marine. Honesty was always

better than tap dancing around bad news.

"I spoke to the general and showed him a corpse I found

in the forest along the way."

"What was his response?" asked the Captain, his voice deep

and solemn.

"I don't know." Said Galil. "He said he would take care of it but I don't trust that bastard."

Ariel stood from his seated position.

"This part of the future is in his hands. If his decisions are mistakes that lead to us losing this planet then my legion will see to it that justice is swiftly reaped upon him."

Galil looked briefly at Ariel. He believed the

words of the Astarte's. He sighed and the two men walked

into Suri's room. Ariel took up his usual position on

the floor in the corner of her room. It had the most room for him. That night the corner was his roost.

Dawn rose. The sun of Lemano flooded through Suri's window and the room glistened with light. Ariel stood up and went into the other room. Galil was standing, holding

his wife, Suri's mother, lasgun fully loaded, slung over his shoulder in full combat attire. Another

day at the trenches. "Kill well brother." Said Ariel, bidding his host farewell as he once more set off to fight his daily war. Ariel wanted nothing more but to join in the bloodshed.

The insects chirped in the morning light. Some did.

The ones native to Lemano did. The rest buzzed and fizzed annoyingly. Ariel paid special notice to them. They seemed

to be getting louder. He tried to drown out the sound of the constant coughing and spluttering that was rampant

in the community. He was certain the subtle humming of insects was louder than the previous day. He decided to skip training in the underground fighting cavern and scout to the very edge of the village.

The more he continued, the louder it got. He got to the mounds of rotting flesh heaps. The infected piles of death. He found the source of the insects. The air had vanished. all that remained was insects. They picked at the flesh mounds. Nibbling on decaying organs and nesting in the

empty crevices of human architecture that had evolved to form them over millennia through birth, death and finally rebirth. Where the insects started, the coughing stopped. The warriors of Nurgle didn't feel pain.

They bore wounds so foul and vile that any ordinary mortal or superhuman would end his agony with the sweet release of death. But not them. Grandfather Nurgle's reward to them

for their service was a pain free existence even in the face of such decay and pestilence. Ariel crept towards the mound. He set his visual optics to full zoom. He could see a whole army of plague bearers getting into position. He dulled the audio sensors in his helm,

the sound of insects eating the corpses around him softened. Engines. The attack would come soon.

There was a figure just on the horizon. He seemed to

be bossing the plague bearers around. Pointing his finger from one direction to another. The war boss.

Ariel crept away and hurried to the house.

He burst through the door in a hurry. "Where is the

coms transmitter?" He asked. The tone of his voice

was urgent. He didn't even realise, Suri's mother was crying. He took his helmet off and looked at her. "What's the matter?" He asked. She said no words. Only

sobs and weeps. For a moment he thought the worst. Then a cough. "The Emperor Protects" he thought as he quickly realised his fears had not come to fruition. He walked

into the next room. Two Imperial Soldiers stood by a body. Their hands crossed in front of them. He knew what this

was about. When the two men saw the Astarte's they took

to one knee.

"How was he killed?" asked Captain Ariel.

"Cultists my lord." Replied one of the Imperial Soldiers. Ariel removed the hard fabric of the war clothe covering Galil's face. There was no face. His nose was fully

gone. Strings of melted flesh infused over his nostrils.

His top lip had been pushed back into his cheek bones. There was so much blood. An eye ball dangled out of its socket. Ariel wondered what it must have seen during

its last moments. Unable to close itself off from receiving the light of war that poured into it as there was no longer an eye lid to shut out the light and let the darkness take him. Ariel hoped it had been an instant death. He went to sit with Suri. She was yellow. Not a glowing yellow a vile, decaying, festering yellow. Insects kept flying to her and bothering her. She stank. Her breathing was shallow. She opened her mouth to speak.

Ariel saw the boils on her tongue.

"He's..." She paused to cough. Blood came up. Lots of it.

"Don't speak" he said to her.

A tear rolled down her eye. Her eye lids were

crusted with a dry mucus. It more than likely hurt her more physically to cry than mentally. Still, she managed

one tear. Just one. She held out her hand. "Get them." She said as the giant green gauntlet drowned her tiny, fragile hand. When it let go, the pendant was in left in the palm of the Ariel's gauntlet. The moment was awkward. He didn't know which form of emotion to portray to her.

He didn't know these kinds of things. He knew how to comfort a battle brother but not a child.

He took the pendant and nodded. Behind her encrusted eyes he knew she knew. He walked into the next room where Suri's mother sat at the table, her head in her hands. Ariel retrieved the antique coms transmitter device.

"Ariel to Lieutenant Lael of the 3rd Tactical. Do you read

me?" The vox transmitter crackled static. "Capt.. La .. Rep" This static interference wasn't there last time. "What

could be causing it?" he pondered. He adjusted some dials. "What is your estimated time until arrival?" he said to Lael who was very nearly just outside of the planets

orbit. "Estimated time of arrival, two days." He said. It was just barely enough for Captain Ariel to make out. He would have to make do.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Little Priest Of Nurgle

**CHAPTER NINE:** _The Little Priest Of Nurgle._

Across the fields, past the forest, beyond the village, standing amongst an army of filth, a small sorcerer twitched. His name is Sergak.

Someone or something larger than the rest of the army stands next to him. "What is it?" he asks the sorcerer priest.

"Astarte's."

The larger being takes in a deep breath. He

gestures for a plague bearer. He points in a direction and the plague bearer takes off.

"How can you be sure?" he asks the larger being.

"I have picked up a signal. It leads to outer orbit.

They are coming."

The larger being unleashes an all mighty roar. His name is

Bresterv. He is the leader of the war band and he

is worried. He knows if there are Astarte's inbound his

plan will be foiled. He must launch now. He roars again.

It bellows from his distended gut, rumbles up his diaphragm and echoes over the land, past the forest all the way

down to the trenches outside the market. The Imperial Army all stop firing their las guns for a moment. The cultists of Nurgle stop mid rage. All stop for the

roar. Bresterv is big. He is armoured. He is even bigger

than Captain Ariel. He raises a blade as he roars again. Insects, the same that have been eating the dead mounted in piles on the outskirts of the village bellow from his mouth. He raises the blade. It's rusted. Very rusted. Designed to hack and infect. Simple but effective. the plague bearers raise their swords fashioned from

poorly shaped metals. Some nothing more than sharpened

stones with roped handles.

The engines roar and the army slowly moves out.

The sorcerer priest, Sergak looks up at his war leader Bresterv. He is small. He is not much bigger than Suri. The lower portion of his face is covered with a metal mask. The skin atop his skill is peeling back. It reveals parts of his brain. His cloak is tattered. He holds a staff tied with rags that emanates a green glow. One or two tentacles can be see hanging from beneath the mask

that covers his mouth. Spikes protrude his cloaks on his shoulders and chest. There is a skull hanging from his belt. Bresterv looks down at him. "Do we know which legion?" He asks.

"The first" replies Sergak. His voice is snarling. A high pitched whining snarl proportionate to his height. "When the angels fall. Summon Carvestus."

The sorcerer acknowledges his war band leaders request

and sets off behind the rest of the moving army. Ariel walks into Suri's room. She is still breathing.

Before he can take in the room, it explodes. He is thrown back by the force. He didn't have his helmet on. His face is bleeding. Shreds of skin flake from the left side.

They will heal. They will look ugly but they will heal.

He looks over at Suri. She is dead. The dust settles and there are wooden, metal, plastic and glass splinters

stuck deep inside her already ravaged body. She bleeds. She bleeds a lot. Her eyes remain open. Captain Ariel no longer needs to feel fear. His worst fear has just come true. No more fear for Suri now. Just

vengeance. Now he understands fear at a human level.

Perhaps Galil was right. Perhaps this time, the Astarte's

learned from the Imperial Guard?

As the army moves Sergak turns to his war band leader.

"I feel the Astarte's is hurt" he says. "No" Grumbles Bresterv.

Suri's mother is also dead. Captain Ariel seizes her body and burry's her and Suri in a shallow grave beneath the broken and shattered floor. When this is over, they will be found and honoured properly. Until then all he can do is leave a message. No ink. Just blood. Suri's blood.

The blood of his dead friend. The

blood of his lost battle sister. His 'little' angel. One wall remains. Partially. He marks it.

"Repent today. For tomorrow you die!"

He puts on his helmet. Whether his battle brothers are there yet or not now is the time for war.


	10. Chapter 10 - Into The Thick

**CHAPTER TEN:** _Into The Thick._

Ariel races towards the trenches. He is running

as fast as his genetic enhancements allow him to. The air in his helmet is circulating around inside making

it hot for him. He sweats. Evaporation forms on the scars mending on the left side of his face. He has fastened the pendant Suri gave him to his shoulder armour. The pendant is his oath of moment.

He reaches the trenches and drags the two closest men out by the backs of their collars. At first they don't understand but when they see the Astarte's stand before them they bow on one knee. The sun is no more. The Dark Angel has entered the battle field.

The sun hides from the Dark Angels. They suck in every particle of light and leave only darkness. "Relinquish your post and come with me." He orders to the two Imperial soldiers.

They will be court marshalled. The General will be sure to punish them to further cement his own authority. They voice their concerns.

"My lord. We cannot leave our post. We will be disobeying a direct order. We'll get in trouble." "Look around you!" growls Ariel. "Are you not already in trouble?" A round from the auto gun

of a cultist slams into the helmet of the Astarte's.

It does nothing. It happens before the two soldiers eyes

and helps them to chose their orders. Follow the angel, or follow the General? They choose wisely, even though the words of the Dark Angel are hard to swallow.

"Leave this trench. Stronger forces attack us from the

rear position. Forces your general has failed to acknowledge and address. Grab a handful more battle brothers and return to the village. As many as you can. Take the civilians to the underground training area in the fields. Hide them

there. Keep them there. Protect them. We will fight. You will live but only to protect them. If the training area is compromised then fight to the last. Take no sick. None that are falling to the plague. They will only desecrate the numbers further. They are already lost." The two soldiers nod. One will have to leave his own mother to

die at the hands of the plague. This is hard for him.

Auto rounds blast towards them. Lasgun flashes sear over

no man's land. The two men climb over the trench in the opposite direction. Mud cakes their clothes and

weighs them down. Within a matter of moments the trench starts to drastically thin out. Inevitably the cultists surge forward and fill the gaps. The Cadian troops of the Imperial Army fight gallantly. Las rifles popped through the distended abdomens of cultist warriors.

Cultists firing auto rounds into the heads of the guard. Groans and growls came over the trenches and cries

of agony as bodies on both sides are dismembered. Close quarters. No quarters. Behind the cultists heavy weaponry roared. It opened on the cultists and Imperial Guard

alike. Throwing limbs and heads and carcasses into the air. Gravity slamming them back to down with as much force as any other weapon being used this day. Bones cracked

and splintered. Ariel looked at what unfolded before

him. He saw a soldier who had lost his weapon fly over no man's land with his knee out. His form was perfect and Ariel recognised this technique instantly from

his training with Galil. The knee pumped into the guts

of a cultist causing him to buckle down. They felt no pain but they couldn't defeat the laws of physics.

Maggot like insects spewed out in a thick sludge from the

cultists mouth. The soldier ceased the opportunity. He

took the cultists head under his arm and cranked upwards. Ariel recognised this technique also. The cultists head eventually popped off. The head of the Imperial Guardsmen also flung back. Just as he had killed the cultist

an auto gun round collected him in the head. Drilling

deep into his brains and exiting through the back of his skull. The kinetic force continuing to push the round

into the shoulder of another Imperial soldier fighting behind him. A head for a head. An explosion

erupted in the trench. Three bodies flew upwards. Two landed on the ground. The third was caught by a cultist on his bayonet. Ariel didn't enter the violence yet.

He had a battle plan. He knew as soon as his presence was known thicker, overwhelming forces would be deployed. Decimating the Imperial Armies numbers. Vengeance

filled him. He was blood thirsty. "How long?" he thought. He lay in the cover of a crater waiting. Observing the battle. Watching the trench dissipate as the cultists over ran it and every man fought for himself.

Finally, a voice.

"My lord. The civilians are safe." Ariel turned around. "Very good." He said. "Now we can fight war as war should be fought." He drew back the bottom of his

robe and revealed his arsenal. He withdrew a chain sword. He raised it.. It growled and roared. He revved it harder, and harder. He pointed it at the battle and charged in!


	11. Chapter 11 - Loops Of War

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:** _Loops Of War_

Sergak is slapping his bare feet on the mud of Lemano. The plague bearers have burnt down the empty villages. They have set the crops alight. The civilians gasp for air beneath the surface. There is just enough. They can breathe, but for now that is all they can do. It's enough. The markets are destroyed.

They have been bombarded from the rear lines of both

armies from the warriors of Nurgle. Sergak is hopping up and down on a mound of dirt. Rubble from the market splayed around him. The air is black with swarms of insects. Dead corpses lay all around him. The insects crawl out of their mouths in droves. They will

eat well this day. Amidst the chaos at the trenches

he can see a flash of green and white. He observes it. He can hear the roar of a chain sword over the humming and buzzing of insect. Over the engines of battle machines it growls like a lion. Over the cries of pain and choking blood gargles from

the dying Imperial soldiers. Over the laughter of cultists relishing in the slaughter. The fighting is fervent. This is evolution in the making. Extinction at its finest.

Survival of the fittest and the green and white splash of light, or rather, dark, darting amongst the blurs of grey, brown, black and red of the battle scene seems to be surviving just fine. "Astarte's". Sergak savours

the word. He runs to the back to find some smooth stones. Bresrterv leaves him to his work. He bellows out again and a surge of plague bearers race down the remains of the market place towards the ensuing battle at the trenches. The attack from behind has started.

There is big ones and little ones. Fat ones and

skinny ones. All festering. Some have scars that already extend from one end of their bodies to the other. They look as though the stitching attempting to hold their bodies together will come undone and cease to contain

their organs should they so much as over stretch a little. The cultists also displayed some features of this. This is why captain Ariel has had so much success in

eradicating them. A cultist jumps on him. With lighting reflexes he holds up his chain sword and eats throw him. One grabs him from behind and fires directly into his helmet. The rounds do nothing but glance off. It ricochets

off and ends the cultists life instantly. Arirl surges into his audience whilst the Imperial Army fire their lasguns at the oncoming cultists. They tear throw them. Smouldering bodies of lay everywhere. The smoke

emanating from their burning, fatal wounds forming a black cloud over the battle zone. Ariel hears the roar

of Bresterv and turns around. "Here they come" he

warns the Imperial Army. "Form a circle and fight outwards." They listen. The general cowers in the centre of the fight. If the field of war smelt like shit before, then the General was the Imperial Armies contribution to the stench now.

Ariel kicks forward. He breaks every rib in a cultist. The

enemy feels no pain. So his foot continues through the one time man. He slams the cultist to the floor with his boot by the hole he has created in its guts then lifts his

leg up, tearing him through him. Splitting him from waist to head.

A cultist jumps on his back, again. He grabs him by the

neck and uppercuts him between the legs. His fist

erupts through the cultists body and he wears it like a glove. Like a sock puppet. Like a weapon. Ariel

thrashes his arm about slamming the cultist into other cultists. The collisions splutter brains and gore

everywhere. He sees one on a mound and with less than a seconds reaction time he has drawn his bolter from beneath his robe and fired upon him. The bullets dead on aim. It pops through the cultist exploding out the back of his head. The death of the cultist allows an

Imperial Soldier a split second to fire a rocket. It lands right where the dead cultist lays with no head. It

explodes. It puts the heavy weapon the cultist was about to fire out of commission. It is rendered useless, furthermore, the explosion has claimed four lives of the enemy. If they survive this Ariel hopes to bestow an award to this soldier of the Imperium.

Bresterv observes from the back. The Imperial Guard

is holding up well in its encased circle against the plague bearers and cultists which is now a united force bombarding the Imperial Army from all ends. They fire outwards. Red streaks from las guns blast out of a central point. Like a volcano that erupting light in place of lava. The plague bearers attempt to hack their way in. They are too decrepit. The Cadian Troops of the Imperial

Army who have lived and fought and trained and died here for decades are too well versed. They have started lives here. Bore children here and created families here. They will end lives here. Kill the children of the Chaos God

Nurgle and beak apart his family here. They are the descendants of Terra. They must not lose! They cry out in pain but they fight on. They are injured, bloody, maimed

but they fight on! Bresterv has underestimated them. He charges down the hill with his rusted sword.

The ground thuds and shakes, like a small earthquake. He must break that circle!

Some of the foes moved out the way of their

charging leader. Some had their backs turned.

Some who weren't quick enough were run through. They popped like the pimples that infected their bodies as

the war band leader accelerated towards the centre of the defensive circle Ariel and the Imperial Army were holding. As he approached he raised his rusted blade and cut clean through seven men. He cut them in half from left hip to right. The blade sailed through as if it had been honed fine enough to split a paper edge. Now, Bresterv was in

the centre of the defensive circle. The General was on

his ass wallowing in his own shit. Bresterv picked him up with one hand by his scrawny throat. A black tongue slurped out of the leader of the war bands infected

mouth. It was thick at the base then thinned off like a serpent. A single thirteen legged insect as large as the hand of the general crawled out of Bresterv's mouth

and inched down his long tongue. The legs were long and thin. The General was petrified. He is crying. None of the Imperial Army can let up to save him. They know

Bresterv is there. They know if they don't slay him they will die. They fear they will soon be dead. "Forget the General." They think. "We never liked him anyway."

Bresterv grins and moans. He is taking pleasure from the fear of the general. He licks his face with his long black tongue. The insect crawls onto the General's face. He cringes. Bresterv heaves him up into the air

like a parent tossing a child in play. Except this is not

play. The General sails high into the air, very high. Gravity drags him down straight onto the edge of Bresterv's rusted blade. He holds the blade horizontally and splits the General in two. Ariel takes the momentary lapse in the guard of Bresterv and charges in with his chain sword.

The mechanical blade crunches, clunks and spits as it

attempts to bite through the rust of Bresterv's blade.

"Astarte's"

Says Bresterv. "Are you not afraid?"

He is bigger than Ariel. Ariel is looking up at him as they struggle for power over each other. Blade to blade Ariel struggles. Blue friction sparks burn daemonic

metals as the chain swords tries to overcome its structure.

Bresterv grunts and heaves forward sending Ariel flying backwards. He lands hard. The vox com inside his helmet crackles. "That can only mean" He thinks. "Lael is inbound." "Lael to Captain Ariel. Lael to Captain do you read

me?" The vox crackles.

"Loud and clear Lael" says Captain Ariel with relief in his voice. He is watching Bresterv approach him.

"We are in orbit. Drop pods are ready to launch. Where

do you want us to drop our battle brothers?" "On the beacon." Says Ariel.

"Copied" Acknowledges Lael

He is on one knee. He is battered. His armour dinted. His robe ripped in places. Bresterv's pace is picking up.

Like a runner from the old Olympia foot races of Terra,

Ariel charges towards Bresterv at full force. He charges

at him. He charges, past him. Bresterv stops as he watches

the Astarte's run past him. He laughs his treacherous laugh.

"Run Space Marine, run!" He is, miss understanding of

the situation at hand. He begins to clean up the battlefield. He hacks side to side swiping through the bodies of the Imperial Army.

Ariel runs. He runs through the battle field. He runs

past the market. The sorcerer sits in safety slapping his

feet with its big, yellow, split toe nails on the rubble. He sees the Astarte's approach. He squeals like a pig having its tail pulled and drops to the ground covering

his head. Ariel hasn't seen him. He is somewhat insignificant at the moment. But only for now. Ariel runs past the destroyed markets into the fields. The fires have burned out. It is charred black. They survivors will have no crops to farm this harvest. They will go hungry. Later it will be recorded as Lemano's greatest famine yet some will survive even that struggle. Enough will survive it.

The forces of the Chaos God Nurgle have all surged forward

for a complete onslaught. There is room now. Room behind them. Ariel calls Lael on the vox in his helmet.

"Lael. Drop the pods where the beacon is from my helmet."

"Understood." He says. "I'll see you on the battlefield brother."

"Hopefully so Lael, Hopefully so."

Ariel takes off his helmet and places it on the floor. The scars on his face have healed a bit. He is panting. He grits his teeth. Now he must do as Bresterv did.

Ariel charges out of the burned out fields and into battle once more. His footsteps rumble the earth beneath him.

The sorcerer Sergak stands up from his defensive huddle.

Just as he does Ariel charges past him

again from the opposite direction heading back into battle. Past the market. A cement column of rubble lays arched up wards. He runs up it gathering speed. Bresterv is

in front of him. He hears something. He feels

something. A chain sword. He snarls and turns around to slice through Ariel in mid air as he had the General but is too late. Ariel has launched himself off the column

and the teeth of his chain sword are chewing, gnarling,

chomping through the skull of Bresterv. Black liquid sprays up. He is still alive but with the

cortex of his brain split its electrical receivers send

its mental images in circles. A tooth on the blade

of the chain sword kinks and spits out. It continues to bite through the skull of Bresterv. He can't

feel pain but is immobilised. Ariel brings his body

close to the blade as it jars into Bresterv. "You showed

me fear!" he says to Bresterv. "Now I return it."

said the Dark Angel. He let go of the chain sword leaving it hacking into the brains of the leader of the Chaos war band . He pushes him away and with a split second reaction he pulls out his bolt gun and fires three mass reactive rounds into where the chain sword feeds.

Bresterv's head explodes. Chunks fly over everyone

in the vicinity. The chain sword flies out and lodges

itself into the rock and mud they fight on. Sergak watches the carnage from his safe spot. He turns away and begins

to collect stones.


	12. Chapter 12 - Death From Above

**CHAPTER TWELVE:** **** _Death From Above_

Without warning the clouds began to move. The priest sorcerer laid the stones in a circle. Eight of them marked with the blood of the slain. He had written something in hieroglyphics on them and mumbled something in a language

not heard in this region. No one knows what he had

mumbled but as soon as he did the stones sped away from where they were placed. They shot off in different directions. Later these would be a source of archaeology

for Lemano scholars. They would make sure to never let the stones form the same pattern again. Though the stones will prove indestructible. Like a tornado the dark clouds in the sky began to swell. The insects that buzzed everywhere became more and more agitated. Ariel lay on

his back inside an impact crater and looked up. "Drop pods." Thought his inner monologue. "But, they're off course? No matter." He thought.

"The might of our forces will be enough to easily quell this now the leader of this insurgence is dead."

He looked up. Space Marines fell from the sky. His face

turned sour as he noticed they had no drop pods.

"No!" He thought, quickly realising what was happening.

Lightening crackled in the clouds. Thunder clapped

and married with the sounds of erupting heavy weapons artillery exploding from the Nurgle warriors. This was no longer a mop up operation. This was one Space Marine, against many.

They landed with a thud. Every one of them shook the land as Ariel had. Horns and tubes adorned their armour. Their chest plates were rounded and barrel shaped to encase their fat, bloated stomachs. Every piece of ceramite on them was rusted and buckling. It had holes in it. Holes with maggots and worms crawling out. Sometimes, often tumors or sacks of phlegm poured from the holes in the armour. Sometimes even body parts. Ariel felt the air flow over his face.

An Astarte's against the cultists the Astarte's would win.

An Astarte's against an army of plague bearers would be a more difficult win. An Astarte's against the plague bearers and cultists together would be an accolade but an Astarte's against Nurgle cultists, plague bearers

and now Chaos Space Marines pinned the odds against him.

"Where are you Lael!" He needed help.

One of the Chaos Space Marines bore down on top of him.

Ariel dragged him down by the throat and punched away

at his visor. His gauntlet slamming fist after fist into it until he had blood and brains on his knuckles.

He rolled the corpse over onto its side to examine the insignia on the Chaos Marines armour. Death Guard.

Bolt rounds from the new comers slammed into the Imperial Army. They tore through their bodies like a stick of dynamite exploding in butter. Ariel wiped the dirt from his face and stood up. Before he could get to his feet he

was forced to take cover as another Death Guard marine that was converging on him exploded from his chest outwards. Ariel heard a mechanical sound. It was a bolter but faster. The cycle rate was faster. It was a storm bolter. "Salvation" he hoped as the rounds from the

storm bolters peppered and exploded on the battle field. The Terminator armoured Dark Angel stepped over Ariel. "Thank you brother" he said to the Terminator.

It nodded it's heavily armoured head and continued to

spray the field of cultists and Chaos Marines of the Death Guard in front of him. Rockets whirled overhead. Another Terminator. This one with a cyclone missile launcher mounted on its shoulders. Plague bearers lunged at it. He swatted them away like flies with his power claw as the shoulder mounted missile launcher bombarded the heavy artillery

further down the battle field. The warp tear remained open and Death Guard continued to pile through. Three more

Dark Angels Terminators from the 1st Company of the 1st

Legion took up position under the warp tear. Armoured with heavy bolters they opened up a never ending relentless barrage of bolt rounds into the warp. Mass reactive rounds exploded in the sky as they made contact with the incoming Death Guard still dropping out of the sky.

Ariel began to move. He picked up his bolter.

He turned around. Green. A whole squad of green. A

company of green. "Fan out" said a voice.

"Captain Ariel? I'm Sergeant Lael." The Sergeant helped the Captain to his feet. He noticed a pendant around the Captains un helmed neck. "The little angel?" he asked. "Yes" nodded the Captain. "We need to relieve the Imperial Army." Said Captain Ariel. "Their forces are diminishing

and we cannot allow them to become extinct." Sergeant Lael

nodded. "What's your plan of attack?" he asked the Captain.

"You landed where my helm vox was yes?" "Yes" replied the Sergeant.

"Behind it is a trap door that leads to an underground

training complex where the civilians have been hiding for protection. Round up the remaining Imperial Army

and take them there. Protect them! After that we massacre

these filthy bastards." Said Ariel.

"Understood." Said Seargeant Lael. "2nd Platoon on me!" he

transmitted through his vox helm and random individual

Space Marines scattered around the field started to sprint towards Lael's position.

Ariel kept fighting. He fired bolt round after bold

round through enemy cultists. He tore plague bearers limb from limb. He mauled the Death Guard. Their blood stained his armour. His white robe covered in red. Wet to the touch.


	13. Chapter 13 - Enter Cervestus

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN:** **** _Enter Cervestus._

Sergeant Lael lead the 2nd platoon with all of the remaining Imperial Army to the training area. "In" he

said. They climbed in. He heard cries come from the pit.

"What's happening?" they cried.

The platoon took up a tight position around the entry point eradicating anything that came near it. Allowing

the remaining Imperial Army men to enter meant giving away

their position to the enemy. No matter.

"The Emperor protects." Said Lael to the civilians.

"We will win this for you. For the glory of the Imperium

of man!"

"What good is it to survive if we have nothing left to

live for?" sobbed a voice from the pit.

"The Emperor protects. You will see." Said Lael as he

mowed down an oncoming cultist with his bolt gun.

A las round flew past him. It hit a plague bearer in

the head turning its face to mush. The warrior of Nurgle fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. It's face looking like a fruit drink.

"Well." Said Lael. "It seems the Imperial Army protect

just as well as the Emperor does." He patted the Imperial

soldier on the back as he entered the pit.

A belch. A burp. A loud one rippled through the clouds. It smothered the whole battle field. All heard it. "Pwoah" said Lael. "Excuse you!"

Back at the front line of the battle field Ariel

was fighting back to back with other members of the 3rd

Company. "They like to bloody sing a lot" he said

to a battle brother as he punched a Death Guard square in the face. He shook his fist and made a grunt of annoyance. His fist was stuck in the Chaos Marines head. He kicked

him in his distended belly and pulled it free.

"Burrrrrp" again the belch echoed through the warp tear. Like a rocket something heavy fell to the ground. The

speed and ferocity of the impact knocked down all three of the

Terminators of the first company who had been firing their heavy bolters into the void.

"Let the bastards come!" said Ariel. His energy for the battle now fully renewed at the presence of his battle brothers.

"Dear me." Said Lael to a nearby comrade as the last of the Imperial Army entered the relevant safety of

the pit. Green lightening was trailing through the clouds. They were swarming into a funnel shape.

The flies, insects and bugs were frantic. A massive swarm of them flew above the battle field. Ariel, helm less

was spitting them out as they splattered against his face. Lael closed the hatch to the pit. Locking it behind him. "Five of you stay here. Guard this position! Do not

lose it! The remnants of Lemano are down there and if we are to build on the Imperium we must protect them. For the Emperor!" he said. Made the sign of the Aquila and left with the remainder of the second platoon to continue the battle. They ran for the centre of the storm. With the three Terminators down more Death Guard were coming through the warp riff.

Sergak, the priest of Nurgle hopped about exuberated at the force which had just entered through the warp. It's growls and groans radiated amongst the whole

battle field. "Cervestus is here, Cervestus is here." He danced about the rubble and debris. "Cervestus is he..." he never finished. His head exploded.

"Sir, what did you just kill?" Asked a running Dark Angel. "I'm not quite sure." Said Sergeant Lael as he continued running towards the scene of the newest arrival.

"Wasn't human so I shot it." He said. He hadn't even

stopped. They kept on running through the rubble of the old markets and down to the battlefields.

"Cervestus, Cervestus" the Death Guard chanted. The warp tear began to close. With the sorcerer priest of Nurgle dead there was nothing to keep it open. Everything that was now on Lemano was trapped on Lemano. There was no escape. Only one army would survive.


	14. Chapter 14 - The Changing Tides

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN:** _The Changing Tides._

Air jets on Cervestus' armour bled off steam as he got to his feet. His armour was the same as the downed Terminators. The first company would mourn them. Where

theirs was a bone white the terminator armour of Cervestus was an olive or rather a spew coloured green. Horns protruded through the top of his helmet. He

breathed heavily and fast signalling high levels of aggression. The joints on his armour were rusted.

There was cracks and holes in it as if it had existed for millennia and had been through even more battles.

His weapon, a power axe. A daemonic power axe. It was long. It had a chain blade on it but crackled with purple pulses of warp energy. It would cut and burn in the same slice. Just like the blade of Bresterv the blade of the daemonic axe was equally as rusted and buckled. He spread his arms out, leaned back into a stance and screamed. Visors cracked as the scream vibrated at the same sonic pitch as their material make up. The helmets of the Dark Angels clamoured desperately to dampen the sound with their audio sensors. The battle field had ceased.

Then came the first swipe.

It was indiscriminate. The daemonic axe sliced through everyone and everything in its way regardless of whose side of the battle the warriors it fell were on. One handed. It cut through Dark Angels, Death Guard Chaoes

Marines, plague bearers and cultists alike. All, decapitated. Their heads and helmets all hung in the air for a

fraction of a second before hitting the ground at the same time in a clutter of thuds. Blood from opened jugular

veins spluttered from every corpse struck down as it formed

a moving puddle. A stream of blood slowly but surely made its way down the rim of the crater Cervestus was standing in from where he had landed and lapped over his hardened boots.

Silence hung in the air. All but the distant sounds

of bombs that had been falling with no time to cease their descent. It felt as though even the swarm

of insects that had accompanied the warriors of the warp

had simmered down. Dark pink, black, grey and purple clouds were heavy in the sky. The atmosphere was hot but moist. Lael turned to his closest brother and said quietly. "Well this is awkward. I suppose someone had better bloody do something." And with that his chain sword roared into life. The sound signalling for the assault to continue. "For the Emperor!" He screamed as he charged forward into the mess

of enemy forces hacking them down and staining his armour in their body parts.

It was like running through an abattoir. Chunks of rotting meat flung into the air. Off cuts of decaying organs got stuck on the rims of his armour. They dragged behind him, his brothers of the 3rd Company not far to follow.

The dead meat flailed off Sergeant Laels armour sometimes

flying back onto them in the speed and ferocity of the battle. Their bolters rattled and shook as they plunged

rounds into the thick mass of the battle. Bodies exploded everywhere.

Other Dark Angels were attempting to take down Cervestus. "Get him!" Screamed Ariel as he took down anyone in his way in an effort to get to the alpha

warrior. No luck. Too many. He had to keep fighting. Bolt rounds from the Death Guard poked dents in his armour. He took them down. They felt no pain. Every shot, every

attack had to be a kill shot. No time to waste playing

with these bastards. The tactic was simple. The warp tear was closed thus no more enemies could enter. Take down Cervestus and mop up the remains of the battle field.

Leave the people of Lemano in peace to rebuild their

civilisation in the Emperor's light. The tactic was flawed.

A high pitched shrill echoed over the battlefield. It was almost as high pitched as the plague of insects. It was the dead of Lemano. Those who had fallen victim to the plague that had ravaged the planet. The plague, was taint incarnated. "No weapons? No worries." Thought Ariel. They were naked. All of them. Their bodies

decaying and infested with maggots. He opened up on

them. Shooting from the hip. They fell where they stood. "The fight is getting desperate." He thought. "They are running out of troops." The corpses of the taint fell

again. Death reaching out to them a second time.

"Fight on brothers!" he screamed. "We almost have them." Two more Dark Angel Astarte's joined his position and opened fire on the corpses. Ariel left them to finish up. He looked to the sky. Blue streaks. Plasma Cannons.

Massive orbs of blue flew across the entire length of the battlefield evaporating everything where they landed.

One, then another, then another, then a purple one from

the opposite direction. Then two, three blue ones back in the direction the purple one had come from. Ariel ran to the two men massacring the newly dead un dead. "Run to our las cannons and tell one of them to aim at the centre of that cloud spiral. Tell the other

to keep suppressing the enemy las cannons." One of

the Dark Angels took off running in the direction of the blue streaks.

Just then, Lael and a few more Dark Angels walked up

to the captain. "The battle is slowing." He said. "We are close." Said Ariel. "I've ordered our Las

cannons to suppress their champion. This 'Cervestus.' I've also ordered them to suppress our enemies heavy artillery. Take some men and use the suppression to wipe out their heavy weapons. With them down we'll only have a few more Death Guard to deal with. The rest will be a mopping up

exercise."

"And Cervestus?" asked Lael.

Captain Ariel put his hand on Laels shoulder. "Brother Lael do you believe I would not save the pleasure of my vengeance for the end fight? I will make quick meat of him."

"Vengance?" asked Lael.

"Yes brother. This filth has been made personal to me." "All the more reason to fight harder." Said Lael.

"Yes Lael. All the more reason."

Lael made the sign of the Aquilla.

"On me." He said to the few soldiers standing with him and the ran off to decimate one of the last obstacles standing in the way of victory.

Ariel slowly walked to meet the entity who had commanded this puppetry of disaster from deep within the warp.


	15. Chapter 15 - Hello To My Little Friend

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN** ** _:_** _Say Hello To My Little Friend._

Cervestus swung his demonic axe from side to side in front of him hacking down everything in his way.

Dead Dark Angels were quickly falling to his rotting blade. He laughed as he tore them to bits. Their

armour penetrating, tearing, being ripped to pieces. Their super human biology gifted to them by the Emperor would help save some but they would still need to heal. Cervestus was sloppy in his work. Many would die but some would survive. Not without pain. His feet crunched in the rubble. Crushing everything beneath them.

Two space marines attempted to tackle him from the side. He flung them off. They landed on top of some cultists. The force and impact splattering

the cultists into the ground mushing them into

the dirt. If they weren't dead before they surely were now. The two Dark Angels would have to wear the innards of the crushed cultists on their armour

for the remainder of the battle. They got up and

tried again. This time Cervestus caught one in mid air with his axe. In plunged through the cranium of the Dark Angels helmet and out through the bottom of his jaw. He shook the weapon to dislodge the Astarte's. Finally he picked it up with both hands and gave it a hard shake sending the Space Marine flying, lifeless across the

aerospace of the battle field. A trail of brains, fractured skull, blood and other gore trailed out from the entry wound. Trailing across the sky like a ceremonial craft

painting a streak in a parade. Except he was no ceremonial craft and this was no parade. The red streak was not coloured after burn.

Cervestus halted. He looked down. The body of the Dark Angel he had just flung hit the floor in the back ground. He looked down at what was looking back

up at him.

Ariel looked back up at the monster. He gnarled his teeth, he clenched his fists.

"I thought the warriors of Emperor were not meant to become friends with the emotion of fear." Said the barbarous, mutated, transformed, Terminator armoured

emissary to the Chaos God Nurgle. Lord of pestilence and decay.

"I am not like the other warriors of the Emperor."

said Ariel looking up into the terminator armour.

Massive horns jutting out of the top of its head. They reached high and arched back. They had cracks in them. "You know fear captain Ariel. I smelled it on you all the way from the warp."

"Yes" said the Captain. "I know fear very well. I have met my fears. I have faced them. I have overcome them and claimed them. I am fear! Fear me!"

Cervestus laughed. "I am impervious to pain. I cannot fear

that which can not hurt me."

"Don't worry." Said Ariel "This won't hurt a bit."

He drew his bolter and stepped backwards to avoid the shrapnel sure to follow. Then, he fired into the

face of Cervestus.

The smoke settled. Laughing came from it.

There was holes in the horned helmet. Maggots oozed out of some. Flesh from others. The top left side had been completely removed revealing part of his face. Grey. Like

old boiled meat.

Cervestus swung the daemonic axe. One long arch at head height to Ariel. He ducked. Another swipe. This one

low at his ankles. Ariel jumped and when he did Cervestus grabbed him by the throat in mid air bringing him close

to his now smouldering face. He breathed on him. Steady

jets of steam pushed onto Ariel's own face.

"I sense it again." He said. "Fear. You are closer than you would like to admit to your old friend.

Maybe even closer than you are to your old friend, Suri."

He said.

"Aint that right... Mr?" said Suri's voice.

Ariel roared. This time it was his turn to sing. He roared in the face of Cervestus and it echoed across the field like a lion. He grabbed the hand holding him up and wrapped his legs around it

dropping to the floor and pulling Cervestus down on top of him. Cervestus in Terminator armour was heavy. As heavy as he was tall. Ariel scrambled up his arm and around his

back as he fell face first in the mud. Ariel wrapped his forearm under the chin of Cervestus and squeezed. A brief flash back came to him. This was something Galil had taught him in the cavern. Cervestus' demon axe was

standing up right in the dirt. He still gripped it. Ariel watched the grip loosen as the ceremite of Cervestus'

armour dented under the pressure of Ariel's tightening hold. It was working.

"I told you" he said. "You won't feel a thing." The blood flow to Cervestus' head was being closed off. The carotid artery closing. Ariel sat quietly as he slowly, slowly applied more and more pressure. True, the Terminator armour was stronger but it was in no position to use that strength. It's legs splayed out behind it. It's arms

buckled beneath it. The words of Galil flooded his head. "These methods were created to fight men. The Astarte's, start as men. Forces of the warp, Chaos Marines, start, as Astarte's."

Ariel remembered thinking on this after Galil had

said it. For too long he had underestimated the value of man kinds true fighting spirit. It was true.

The Imperial Army had this time, just this once taught

the Astarte's a thing or two about battle.

Cervestus groaned as unconsciousness started to sway over him. Ariel whispered to him.

"Once you were a man. Then an Astarte's. Now a traitor! No mercy for traitors! No mercy for the tainted." Cervestus grip on his axe loosened completely and his Terminator hand fell to the floor. He was unconscious. Ariel groaned as he brought his knees up to his

elbows and rested them on Cervestus un flinching shoulders. He tucked his head closer to his opponents, careful to

keep the horns out of reach. With a grunt and a heave he tightened his and Cervestus neck. The tightest it had

been. Straightening his legs as quickly as he could he pushed off Cervestus shoulders. Somersaulting away from him cradling his head in his hands. When he stood up Cervestus was decapitated.

Black blood glugged onto the floor from the throat of the slain. It was thick like oil. It had clots in it. Slowly but surely, the sound of insects began to fade.

Then an explosion in the distance.

Ariel stood up drenched in blood. He grabbed his bolter and slowly stumbled away from the corpse of Cervestus.

He fired into any oncoming enemies. No effort. Slowly

he made his way to the scene of the explosion. Lael stood there, arms folded.

"HAH! And they say revenge is best served cold." He said to Captain Ariel as he approached. Cultists, Death Guard and plague bearer particles sprinkled down atop of them in a dust storm of vaporized bodies. Some who had not been so close lay crippled on the

floor as their limbs and torsos glowed blue. The super heated plasma eating at their festering corpses as

death took them slowly.

"Revenge" said Captain Ariel. He staggered and held the head of Cervestus out for Lael.

"Oh? A trophy?" he asked as bolt rounds cracked off around

him into any remaining survivors.

"Trophies are rewards." He said "There was nothing rewarding about this." He took the head by a horn and threw it as far as he could. Lael nodded.

"Open the pit, release the civilians and Imperial soldiers."

He said over his helmet vox.

"Yes Commander" a voice crackled in response.

They sat on in the rubble together.

The smoke slowly began to clear as the clouds dissipated. "What are your orders Captain?" asked Lael. "Return to orbit I suppose. Our work is done. Notify

command to send Imperial support so that the civilians

can have a hand to rebuild. What's left of them." "The Emperor..."

"Protects" finished Ariel.

"Do you hear that?"

"What Sergeant?" replied Ariel.

"The insects have stopped."

"So they have." Said the captain. He looked up. The swarms of black were gone. A single ray of sunshine cut through the remaining smog and smoke as the civilians began

to appear on the battle field. The Imperial Army began blasting las rounds into anyone left alive. The civilians helped. Ariel rubbed the pendant Suri had given him.

"For now." He said. "So has the coughing." And walked off into the sea of death and decay.

 **THE END**


End file.
